MK:Smart at the heart of London IoT

Members of the MK:Smart team were kept extremely busy at the Smart IoT London Conference and Exhibition last week, as part of the Urban IoT Showcase.

Professor John Miles of Cambridge University and Alan Fletcher of the Open University both had speaking slots in the conference, whilst Jaisha Bruce of the OU managed the MK:Smart stand at the exhibition, supported by colleagues from MK Council and BT.

Held at London’s ExCel this conference is now in its fourth year and has a growing reputation as a UK IoT hub for learning and knowledge exchange but this was the first showcase focusing on the Urban IoT Showcase and Smart Cities. The MK:Smart team were certainly engaged with visitors to the stand for the entire two days.

Professor Miles presented a spotlight session on Smart Mobility and Alan Fletcher focused on the Making of a Smart City. Both sessions attracted good audience questions and a chance to explore the concepts further.

Professor Miles’ work is focused on providing analysis and prediction of “busyness” using a range of technologies to demonstrate that mobility can be understood and better managed using the Internet of Things as a channel for collection and curation of data.

Alan Fletcher highlighted the need to understand the context of ‘smart’ in any city and the importance of collaborative working with all stakeholders. Data was again a key theme in this presentation, with an explanation of the innovation environment that is the MK Data Hub.

“We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from delegates and exhibitors alike about the event overall and in particular the quality of both speakers and topics covered” commented Andre Burgess, Smart Cities Programme and Strategy Director of Smart IoT London. “As a personal comment, the quality of the outputs coming out of the MK:Smart programme is proof of the strength of the collaboration between public, private and academic sectors at Milton Keynes.”